One has to admire Novara's ability to find clever, thoughtful people as commentators. Here Shon Faye (a transwoman) does a take on the word "woke". She says that woke was never meant to be a "substantive concept", instead it is a deliberate "ellipsis" a "vacuum" into which you can pour or project anything. The resulting contradictions do not matter to the people using or hearing it – because it serves the purpose of appealing to emotions. She says the nearest parallel would be word "zeitgeist" as used by fascists (to convey horror, fear and disgust).
There is of course a left use of the word "woke" – which criticises the liberal tendency to prioritise identity over class. It might be a good idea to find a substitute word for this phenomenon – given the contamination of "woke" by the right.
Fourscore and three years ago, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter—a self-titled “musicianer” who was heralded as a “Bad Nigger” who “makes good minstrel” by Life magazine—explained how he came to create one of the first racism* carols. Named after nine young Black men who had been falsely accused of raping two white women, “Scottsboro Boys” was a protest and a warning to Black people about the evil that awaited anyone who dared traverse the borders of Alabama. At the end of the song, he told the story of meeting two of the wrongly convicted men and—just before the recording faded into silence—the legendary singer coined a phrase that would become a clarion call to Black America until white people discovered it eight decades later.
“I advise everybody to be a little careful when they go down through there,” Lead Belly said of Alabama. “Just stay woke. Keep your eyes open.”
Sure, a different way of seeing the world (being woke, after the dream about how a democratic people could remake the world to how it could be), than that of an existing conservative order, was seen as threatening to those loyal to it.
In the 1930's German Weimar Republic liberalism and various groups (Christian) conservative and fascist were (zeitgeist) moral reactionary forces in resistance. The idea of empowered (democratic) humanity with social economic and political equality in citizenship, was against the concept of some divine moral or conservative regime national order that humanity had to be (remain) in obedience to.
Some have since categorised it as idealism vs world reality when rejecting gender identity.
And since then some communitarian anarchists (such as Russell Brand) have aligned with libertarians against modern nation state government (basically joined the Tea Party movement).
‘Why England Slept” by JFK about the slowness of England to respond to the threat posed by fascist Germany (one about the USA would have been too controversial) and of course his speech in Berlin about resistance to communism.
The right’s co-opting of the word “woke” and the way it uses it to distort debate and camouflage bigotry is nothing new. Conservatives have always been very good at wringing words dry of their meaning and repurposing them strategically. “The elite”, for example, now means anyone with an education and not billionaires like Donald Trump. “Pro-life” means forcing women to give birth. Teaching kids about slavery has been rebranded as “critical race theory”. Far too often liberals don’t push back on these phrases and start using them themselves. Gray’s interaction with Mandel shows that simply asking conservatives to be clear about what on earth they’re talking about can be surprisingly effective.
"No objective evidence exists that “gender identity” exists outside of a person’s mind. Transition “medicine” relies on self-reported feelings for diagnosis and satisfaction with appearance for measuring results. Ka-ching, profit!
“Gender identity” does not even have something like the E-meter that can pretend to detect or measure it. As a practical matter, there is more actual science for the ‘body thetans’ of L. Ron Hubbard than for ‘gender identity’ as a coherent material phenomenon."
I never use the word 'woke' and I don't expect to see it in more serious discussion. If it had a meaning, it does not now and it is used as a pejorative now. I liken it to the phrase 'PC' when it was used in the 1990s.
I also don't think the left should be concerned only with class, that has always seemed inherently limiting, (shriek, shock, horror).
I don't really mind how issues are raised and I don't really care if an issue is raised from a liberal mindset. I am not about to criticise how it is raised if I agree that the issue raised has merit.
PC hid much anti women, pro racism 'stuff'. It was a shorthand for I don't want to modify anything I do even if it sexist or racist.
So issues based concerns have merit, we don't need to find some sort of shorthand pejorative to describe them. We certainly do not need to push concerns aside by saying they don't fit a class narrative.
Thinking deeply now about how the left is missing in action when talking about issues of genital males being in women's only spaces, rape crisis centres, counselling, lesbian places. How does fit a class narrative?
Jane Clare Jones is a good read for a left wing, feminist perspective on the three classes (sex, socioeconomic, race). When we treat sex as a class of oppression, we have an analysis for understanding women's rights as something that cannot be dismissed as identity politics.
Thanks Weka. I was aware of how it started. Will brush up on class aspect.
I admit I have come at the left from a different starting point, from feminism, anti racism and equal opportunities for all, then a view of where on the political spectrum these are best progressed.
From there my analysis says that Govt has to lead, so legislation as a backstop at the very least. and with the need for legislation to be actively administered the cries of 'small govt' have no place.
I liked the concept Shon that woke is a kind of bucket into which all sorts of 'scary' things are placed. I also like the view that attacking the word/concept is difficult. How do you counter it? It is about as difficult as tackling the issues such as anti vaxx views. particularly the ones about magnets, world domination etc as opposed to concerns about health efficacy.
With PC Human Rights supporters found that a basis had to be in legislation.
Legislation is always either an backstop or an important step forward in progress. This is why, in my view, we need to maintain the Christchurch Call, work on Hate Speech etc. We need to work on multiple fronts and keep our legislation up to date and pointy.
It is also why on the left we are best to be explicit in framing the issues that the RW-ers are throwing into the 'woke' bucket. Finding another word to replace woke does not work for me.
You are aware that medical errors are considered the third leading category of death in the US? In the order of 250,000 in 2013 alone? Why do you not condemn this? Or call out all doctors "despicable cretins"?
Or that overdosing on commonplace OTC medicines happens far too often? We ingest stupid drugs like alcohol, and our diets are full of dangerous sugars and refined oils that cause a myriad of illnesses and shorten our lives. People do stupid things all the time.
And even with good intentions there is literally nothing good that someone will not take to an extreme and turn into something harmful as in this case. Yet Ivermectin is a drug that has perhaps the safest profile of anything we have discovered. Literally billions of human doses have been administered over decades – with an astonishingly low rate of harm. The fact of these desperate parents grossly overdosing their daughter, probably by several orders of magnitude – yet remarkably she is still alive – is a powerful testament to how safe ivermectin actually is, even when absurdly abused.
And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest.
Our collective understanding of how life works, of why so many ailments and diseases occur and how best to manage them is still very much in it's early stages. There remains so much we do not know and some humility in the light of that fact would go a long way to lowering the fevered temperature of so much of these debates.
My concern is that misguided people are administering an OTC medicine to children until their children have blurred vision and keep doing so until this clears at about a 'couple of months'.
Reading down the article it seems that this is being used on children with autism. An anti worm medicine is being used on children with behavioural problems, it reminds me of exorcisms etc.
"And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest"….+1
RL, haven't you noticed (I am sure you must have) that Joe90 just regurgitates, pretty much verbatim, all Western Liberal MSM talking points, no matter how outrageous…this is merely one more slimy lump in that endless steaming rotting stream of propaganda….shit this guy would probably still defend the Trump/Russia collusion conspiracy today, given half the chance….a filthy hoax I might add, that helped in no small way, lay the ground work that has led to 100,000 dead Ukraine lives and at least as many Russian, in the Russia/US proxy war that we are all sadly, impotently watching unfold before us today.
[Your thirst for taking shots at others, be it journalists, media outlets or other commenters, has no bounds. You have been warned about this so many times and last time you were banned for one month. Yet, here we are again with you taking a shot at another commenter that shows zero respect, lacks any redeeming political comment or opinion, and is off-topic. Ban doubled to two months – Incognito]
The very short article you link to was woefully bereft of proper analysis.
In their study, the researchers examined four separate studies that analyzed medical death rate data from 2000 to 2008. Then, using hospital admission rates from 2013, they extrapolated that based on a total of 35,416,020 hospitalizations, 251,454 deaths stemmed from a medical error, which the researchers say now translates to 9.5 percent of all deaths each year in the U.S.
How? It doesn't say.
In the absence of a proper report it must be assumed this is yet another conspiracy theory promoted by people suspicious of the medical profession ie, anti-vaxxers.
Ivermectin damaging children after being prescribed by their lunatic parents only happens because unqualified cranks continue to promote its benefits (to horses) online.
The researchers caution that most medical errors aren't due to inherently bad doctors, and that reporting these errors shouldn't be addressed by punishment or legal action. Rather, they say, most errors represent systemic problems, including poorly coordinated care, fragmented insurance networks, the absence or underuse of safety nets, and other protocols, in addition to unwarranted variation in physician practice patterns that lack accountability.
Fragmented insurance networks – people without insurance, lack of early intervention …
Medical error, appears to mean a failure of the health system to operate effectively.
All good, but is it factored in that the people presenting to hospital are already at serious risk by dint of presenting to hospital?
We don't know because John Hopkins didn't say in detail how they arrived at their conclusion.
At least we don't know from the very scant of information article Redlogix based his argument on. That did not stop RL presenting it as fact in his defence of veterinary medicine, Ivermectin.
Sure, the article does not explain the modelling used.
Those presenting without insurance may not receive the best care, and there may be an influence from pharma on care offered/practice etc.
One can note atm, post pandemic lockdown and vaccination, a number of countries have higher than normal death rates. There is speculation as to the why and a range of answers are tentatively suggested.
(warning RL will respond to calling ivermectin a veterinary medicine when it has been prescribed for use to millions of humans and when used in that way has been quite safe)
Children need to be protected from some parents. Taking Ivermectin off prescription for an illness that Ivermectin cannot treat sounds like cruelty to me.
(warning RL will respond to calling ivermectin a veterinary medicine when it has been prescribed for use to millions of humans and when used in that way has been quite safe)
Yes of course for the correctly diagnosed problems not for the 'treatment' of autism or any other long term use that involves taking it through side effects such as blurry sight.
Ivermectin has been used extensively as part of the World Health Organisation's Onchocerciasis Eradication Program. It has FDA approval for the treatment of strongyloides and onchocerciasis in the United States, other use is termed ‘off label’.
In treatment of scabies its use may be appropriate in selected cases where topical therapy is impractical or has failed and is particularly useful in cases of crusted scabies (also called ‘Norwegian’ scabies).
Ivermectin can also be used to control demodicosis. Ivermectin cream has been shown to reduce papulopustular rosacea, which is thought to be due to its effects on demodex mites and its anti-inflammatory action.
A 2021 Cochrane Review has not found sufficient evidence to support the use of ivermectin for preventing or treating COVID-19.'
While it used as an anti-parasitic, it has anti-viral properties. And because of that and its safe user profile (right dosage at least) some resorted to it out of hope (pre vaccine) and because some of the developed anti-virals do not have as safe a user profile.
Ivermecticin is no longer an effective wormer, it has become resistive to parasitic worms, don't you think the manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank having found fools to buy their product.
You can literally call their choice of ivermectin deworming medicine. The majority of people choosing to overdose themselves and their children are using vetinary-grade anti-parasite doses formulated for horses or for other large animals, not formulated for humans, or at human-sized doses.
In the Greens State of the Planet 2023 speech they lay down the gauntlet:
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today.
“Make no mistake: 2023 will be a climate election. Only the Green Party will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands and take action to build an Aotearoa that works for everyone,” co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw said.
“I am proud of what we have achieved with the governments we have been given. I am proud that over the last five years we have taken more action on climate change than the past 30 years of Governments combined.
“But it’s not enough. I do not want another generation to have to bear the burden of slow progress.
“To any political party that wants the Green Party’s support to form a government after the election, let us put it as simply as we can: the Green Party will not accept anything less than the strongest possible climate action. The stakes are too high, the consequences of failure too great.
From the speech; the starkness of the choice is made clear:
Labour and National may be duking it out over the so-called ‘political centre’.
But this October, New Zealand will either…
Elect the most progressive, climate-focused government we have ever had…
A government that will not rest until we lift every family out of poverty…
A government that will place nature at the heart of everything we do…
A government that is guided by te Tiriti o Waitangi…
A government that confronts climate change with the urgency and the scale that it demands…
A government that has a strong Green heart beating at its centre…
Or… Hand the keys to the most reactionary race-baiting right-wing government we have seen in decades…
A government for the wealthy few, at the expense of many, not just in this generation but also those to come…
A government of climate inaction and delay.
And that is because there is one thing we know for sure:
No one party can win a majority on their own this election.
Just like Labour will need our support, the only way that Christopher Luxon can become Prime Minister is with the support of David Seymour and the ACT party.
An ACT party that has pledged to restart oil drilling in Maui dolphin habitats, ditch our climate targets, tear up te Tiriti o Waitangi, and cut taxes for the wealthiest few.
An ACT party which said of climate change only a few years ago, that the threat of more extreme weather events was, quote, “unproven conjectures."
Tell that to the people of Tai Tokerau and Auckland and Coromandel and Tairawhiti and Hawke’s Bay.
Even in the wake of these climate disasters, they dare to suggest that we should dismantle the entire framework that we have built, with bi-partisan support, to guide this country to a zero-emission, climate-resilient future.
The worst possible outcome that I can imagine from this year’s election is a National-ACT alliance in government.
It would be an alliance between parties addicted to fossil fuels and helping the wealthiest and the most powerful.
Families will be left struggling to make ends meet…
Schools and hospitals will be run into the ground…
Our natural world will be further eroded away…
The Crown’s obligations to Māori under te Tiriti will be dishonoured…
And our communities will be at more risk from more supercharged floods, storms, droughts, and fires.
Over the course of this election campaign, we can expect both National and ACT to promise simple fixes to complex problems.
To resort to fear.
To appeal to ‘ordinary working mums and dads’, only to turn their backs on them as they roll out policies to cater to the wealthiest and the most powerful.
I ask you to look carefully at who will make up the Cabinet in a National-ACT alliance and ask yourselves this:
Who do you want making those decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love?
Only with more Greens in parliament can we achieve our climate targets, the dangers of delaying are unavoidable:
Chris Hipkins won media plaudits for his political strategy after scrapping or deferring some of Labour's policy in his latest policy bonfire, including ones to reduce emissions. But a poll released just hours after his announcement showed voters want more climate action, not less.
It’s not just the government prioritising the concerns of a median voter. Despite regular proclamations on the urgency of addressing climate change, it’s often the media as well.
There are some good intentions at the root of the bias toward bread and butter policy. It's nourishing, especially during a cost of living crisis.
But it may be hard to fully enjoy the meal if the world is slowly turning into something resembling a bonfire – and not the sort that’s made of policy.
Aren’t the Greens caught in a bit of a cleft stick here?
The green wing of the part rightly decries the Govt’s slowing down of it’s climate change policies. That wing of the part that focuses on poverty and the cost of living issues must be delighted that Labour is concentrating there.
Selling the rights for home test matches to Spark Sport means that unless I want to pay for yet another streaming service, I don’t get to watch my country’s team, even when they’re playing at home.
The anti-siphoning list is a list of events, the televising of which should, in the opinion of the relevant Minister, be available free to the general public.[1] To effect this 'freedom', the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 includes a licence condition on pay TV providers that prohibits them from acquiring anti-siphoning events unless a national broadcaster or a network of commercial television broadcasters have the right to televise the events.
While it says the National Anthem was sung this was only the first (English) verse and most participants turned their backs on the protestors and sat back down.
So the Great Commission has a belief not in religious diversity but in the opposite
Converting others to Christianity raises a fundamental question about whether religious diversity is a reality to be celebrated or an obstacle to be overcome.
The connection of the two causes does suggest a western "civilisation" centric approach. The far north also produced John Banks, John Carter, Wayne Brown (term as Mayor ended by John Carter) and Matt King.
Former Kaipara Mayor, Matakohe farmer and cousin of former MP Sir Lockwood Smith KNZM, Dr Jason Smith, 51 and Felicity Foy of Te Rarawa were the two alternatives.
The Greens would like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull banned from New Zealand.
The Green Party says the Government should stop a British anti-transgender activist from visiting New Zealand.
Supporters of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, were seen to be giving Nazi salutes and abusing LGBT counter-protesters at her event in Melbourne yesterday.
Speak Up for Women had their meetings about gender self ID shut down, rather than being listened to. They wanted the law about changing your sex on your birth certificate to stay as it was i.e a process through the family court. Pretty reasonable really.
They also believe that biological sex is real, not a social construct (as claimmed by the likes of Judith Butler). They want protection for women in prisons, sports, awards, refuges etc.
They are against the affirmation model for kids with gender dysphoria.
Its quite simple really. But we have been shut down smeared and vilified.
Kellie Jean pulls no punches. She states things like women don’t have penises. The Trans lobby smears people and cancels them. That is their modus operandi.
Let women speak needs to go ahead.
When a bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Antifa" decides to disrupt a group of women defending their rights to protect themselves as a sex class, and a similar bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Nazis" decides to take the opportunity to have a go – the main thing they have in common is their commitment to male privilege and male aggression.
Everyone is resisting looking at how/why giving human/civil rights to one group is taking them from another.
In real words do not be in a rush to give everyone who wants to don a frock the moniker of woman.
Women need safe spaces and safe spaces do not include being in confined spaces (Toilets) or spaces with children (mothers with children in changing rooms) or receiving counselling for rape and other sexual assaults, or in women's prisons with men who have not transitioned. Men with intact genitalia should be restricted from female spaces.
Many females agree with giving rights to trans people, but these rights should not be at the expense of the rights of women.
This pure and simple is what KJKM is talking about. Smearing her is just one way of making sure that this message does not get through.
I don't think any woman who has been following this is surprised at the shock horror of there being neo nazis around.
Perhaps take time to read the Greens statement. Posey Parker is anti-Muslim and has hung out with Proud Boys in the US. She doesn't just advocate a pro-women position, but also advocates virulently against trans people. Links in the Greens statement include UK feminist organisations who dissociated themselves from her because of these anti views.
I've seen a couple of nauseating clips from her podcast that immediately struck down her credibility. Be careful who you climb in bed with.
Just looked at the first two reasons given on that list, calling for women who identify as trans men to be "sterilised" and saying that women who oppose the cause will be “annihilated” – it is classic "force and power" language.
It reminds one of Stopes and Sanger, both womens rights on access to contraception, but also into "eugenics" to sell it to others as "population" management. That also led to them getting connections to the right.
I've not seen the evidence that the Nazis are KJK supporters. Incredibly biased reporting. The Nazis marched between LWS and the gender activists, they faced the activists and did the salute. The activists had previously been engaged with the police, apparently punching the horses bellies to try and break the line. Policy told the organisers and women speakers of LWS to be prepared to run if the lines broke. Two lots of militant men facing off.
Has anyone explained yet why the police let them go there?
KJK causes a lot of grief by not making a statement distancing herself from the Nazis. A number of women involved have objected to having to make statements because they think it's a distraction. Fortunately GC women in NZ have made statements against Nazis.
Neo Nazis, 'shock horror' will yet again put off having to deal with the points that women have been making………
I have no truck with Nazis.
The women who are concerned about the reach of the trans rights activism need to be respected. There are many of us from the mildest to the most forthright.
This is one of the songs of the 70s. I am Woman, Helen Reddy with the focus on the words
Can we at least talk about the reasons for the visit, the views and reflect on the point that in giving rights to one group should not mean that the rights of another should be lessened.
The Nazis focus is an unpleasant smokescreen diverting people from dealing with the real issues.
The Greens would like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull banned from New Zealand.
The Rainbow Greens at least. Thankfully the Greens seem to understand that now is not the time to poke at the culture wars. There's nothing on their main twitter and didn't see anything on their FB either. This time and when the original PR was done.
yeah, that's fair, I had mistakenly read that as those three MPs being part of the RGs. My point stands. The GP twitter and FB accounts haven't shared this, it's not in their news feed, and that letter isn't easy to find on the GP front page (when I looked last week at least).
I found it a credible argument for at least serious monitoring of her in NZ, if not shutting her out. The case was well supported with examples that she is a provocateur, weka. I'm a little disappointed with the tarring of so-called tarrers, who weren't. She looks right up Counterspin’s alley.
The only credible argument I can see if her populist conservative position on trans rights alongside her refusal to condemn the Nazis in Melbourne (because she vehemently rejects guilt by association) somehow encourages Nazis in NZ to violence or hate speech. Seems a long bow to draw though.
Also, the RGs call Woman's Place UK extreme anti-trans. If they're going to use hyperbole like that it makes their whole argument suspect.
An interesting tack, of course their room to operate after the election is limited by the lack of alternative to a Labour led government for Greens to work with.
The good news about this issue is that banks are generally in a strong financial condition, and have not been forced to realize losses by selling depreciated securities. On the other hand, unrealized losses weaken a bank’s future ability to meet unexpected liquidity needs. That is because the securities will generate less cash when sold than was originally anticipated, and because the sale often causes a reduction of regulatory capital.
On Sunday morning, ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden said if the Green Party's done one thing during their five years in Government, it's "proving how ineffective they are".
The ACT Party and the Greens have begun their pre-election campaign tussles after launching attacks at each other.
It's a bit one-sided
Van Veldon confuses the lack of oil and gas exploration with the current need to import coal (exploration would only have an impact on the future availability of local oil or gas – by which time there was no expectation of any need to import coal).
Van Velden continued her attack on the Greens, saying one of Shaw's flagship policies was banning oil and gas exploration. "Global coal exporters have been the biggest benefactor of the Green Party's climate policies. According to figures from MBIE, coal use for electricity generation was up 29.5 percent in 2022. There is no environmental benefit to this policy if Indonesian coal is imported instead," van Velden said. "If New Zealand wants to avoid burning millions of tonnes of foreign coal in future, the Government needs to re-evaluate its oil and gas ban."
Note the attempt to sell the nationalism of local carbon use being better to Greens.
An easy differentation is then made
"An ACT Party that has pledged to restart oil drilling in Māui dolphin habitats, that has pledged to ditch our climate targets, that has pledged to tear up Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and that has pledged to cut taxes for the wealthiest few.
"An ACT Party that said of climate change, only a few years ago, that the threat of extreme weather events was 'unproven conjectures'."
Shaw said in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, the ACT Party "dares to suggest" the framework on building a zero-emission climate-resilient future for New Zealand should be dismantled.
"The worst possible outcome that I can imagine from this year's election is a National-ACT alliance in Government. It would be an alliance addicted to fossil fuels and to helping the wealthiest and the most powerful," Shaw said.
"Families will be left struggling to make ends meet, schools and hospitals will be run into the ground, our natural world will be further eroded away, the Crown's obligations to Māori under Te Tiriti will be dishonoured, and our communities will be more at risk from supercharged floods and fires and droughts and storms."
"Over the next seven months, the Green Party will set out a plan for Aotearoa to cut climate pollution and improve our communities," Shaw said.
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The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
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One has to admire Novara's ability to find clever, thoughtful people as commentators. Here Shon Faye (a transwoman) does a take on the word "woke". She says that woke was never meant to be a "substantive concept", instead it is a deliberate "ellipsis" a "vacuum" into which you can pour or project anything. The resulting contradictions do not matter to the people using or hearing it – because it serves the purpose of appealing to emotions. She says the nearest parallel would be word "zeitgeist" as used by fascists (to convey horror, fear and disgust).
There is of course a left use of the word "woke" – which criticises the liberal tendency to prioritise identity over class. It might be a good idea to find a substitute word for this phenomenon – given the contamination of "woke" by the right.
A watchword from 30's 'Murica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=240&v=VrXfkPViFIE&feature=youtu.be
Fourscore and three years ago, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter—a self-titled “musicianer” who was heralded as a “Bad Nigger” who “makes good minstrel” by Life magazine—explained how he came to create one of the first racism* carols. Named after nine young Black men who had been falsely accused of raping two white women, “Scottsboro Boys” was a protest and a warning to Black people about the evil that awaited anyone who dared traverse the borders of Alabama. At the end of the song, he told the story of meeting two of the wrongly convicted men and—just before the recording faded into silence—the legendary singer coined a phrase that would become a clarion call to Black America until white people discovered it eight decades later.
“I advise everybody to be a little careful when they go down through there,” Lead Belly said of Alabama. “Just stay woke. Keep your eyes open.”
https://www.theroot.com/weaponizing-woke-an-brief-history-of-white-definitions-1848031729
Leadbelly using that word with the only meaning it has, that I will recognise.
Sure, a different way of seeing the world (being woke, after the dream about how a democratic people could remake the world to how it could be), than that of an existing conservative order, was seen as threatening to those loyal to it.
In the 1930's German Weimar Republic liberalism and various groups (Christian) conservative and fascist were (zeitgeist) moral reactionary forces in resistance. The idea of empowered (democratic) humanity with social economic and political equality in citizenship, was against the concept of some divine moral or conservative regime national order that humanity had to be (remain) in obedience to.
Some have since categorised it as idealism vs world reality when rejecting gender identity.
And since then some communitarian anarchists (such as Russell Brand) have aligned with libertarians against modern nation state government (basically joined the Tea Party movement).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV0MKikJraE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jnoYOUPUkg
Their language is based on the title of a book
‘Why England Slept” by JFK about the slowness of England to respond to the threat posed by fascist Germany (one about the USA would have been too controversial) and of course his speech in Berlin about resistance to communism.
PS And for black Americans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR-PReWhMGM
There was an excellent Opinion piece on the Guardian a couple of days back on this very topic
The right’s co-opting of the word “woke” and the way it uses it to distort debate and camouflage bigotry is nothing new. Conservatives have always been very good at wringing words dry of their meaning and repurposing them strategically. “The elite”, for example, now means anyone with an education and not billionaires like Donald Trump. “Pro-life” means forcing women to give birth. Teaching kids about slavery has been rebranded as “critical race theory”. Far too often liberals don’t push back on these phrases and start using them themselves. Gray’s interaction with Mandel shows that simply asking conservatives to be clear about what on earth they’re talking about can be surprisingly effective.
Just to get you started!
"No objective evidence exists that “gender identity” exists outside of a person’s mind. Transition “medicine” relies on self-reported feelings for diagnosis and satisfaction with appearance for measuring results. Ka-ching, profit!
“Gender identity” does not even have something like the E-meter that can pretend to detect or measure it. As a practical matter, there is more actual science for the ‘body thetans’ of L. Ron Hubbard than for ‘gender identity’ as a coherent material phenomenon."
https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/10000000-challenge-build-a-machine?fbclid=IwAR0ZRAhaJ_YLhRGhJGkDb2IPCbf_FrynTZ6OvxccGABQ1dYVjIRd8w5fQUk
I never use the word 'woke' and I don't expect to see it in more serious discussion. If it had a meaning, it does not now and it is used as a pejorative now. I liken it to the phrase 'PC' when it was used in the 1990s.
I also don't think the left should be concerned only with class, that has always seemed inherently limiting, (shriek, shock, horror).
I don't really mind how issues are raised and I don't really care if an issue is raised from a liberal mindset. I am not about to criticise how it is raised if I agree that the issue raised has merit.
PC hid much anti women, pro racism 'stuff'. It was a shorthand for I don't want to modify anything I do even if it sexist or racist.
So issues based concerns have merit, we don't need to find some sort of shorthand pejorative to describe them. We certainly do not need to push concerns aside by saying they don't fit a class narrative.
Thinking deeply now about how the left is missing in action when talking about issues of genital males being in women's only spaces, rape crisis centres, counselling, lesbian places. How does fit a class narrative?
Jane Clare Jones is a good read for a left wing, feminist perspective on the three classes (sex, socioeconomic, race). When we treat sex as a class of oppression, we have an analysis for understanding women's rights as something that cannot be dismissed as identity politics.
Woke was originally a term used by Black Americans to describe political consciousness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke
Thanks Weka. I was aware of how it started. Will brush up on class aspect.
I admit I have come at the left from a different starting point, from feminism, anti racism and equal opportunities for all, then a view of where on the political spectrum these are best progressed.
From there my analysis says that Govt has to lead, so legislation as a backstop at the very least. and with the need for legislation to be actively administered the cries of 'small govt' have no place.
I liked the concept Shon that woke is a kind of bucket into which all sorts of 'scary' things are placed. I also like the view that attacking the word/concept is difficult. How do you counter it? It is about as difficult as tackling the issues such as anti vaxx views. particularly the ones about magnets, world domination etc as opposed to concerns about health efficacy.
With PC Human Rights supporters found that a basis had to be in legislation.
Legislation is always either an backstop or an important step forward in progress. This is why, in my view, we need to maintain the Christchurch Call, work on Hate Speech etc. We need to work on multiple fronts and keep our legislation up to date and pointy.
It is also why on the left we are best to be explicit in framing the issues that the RW-ers are throwing into the 'woke' bucket. Finding another word to replace woke does not work for me.
Despicable cretins.
https://twitter.com/cscnme/status/1635655904568791040
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkayeg/ivermectin-kids-autism
Blurred vision for two months? OMG. For autism OMG.
Poor kids.
You are aware that medical errors are considered the third leading category of death in the US? In the order of 250,000 in 2013 alone? Why do you not condemn this? Or call out all doctors "despicable cretins"?
Or that overdosing on commonplace OTC medicines happens far too often? We ingest stupid drugs like alcohol, and our diets are full of dangerous sugars and refined oils that cause a myriad of illnesses and shorten our lives. People do stupid things all the time.
And even with good intentions there is literally nothing good that someone will not take to an extreme and turn into something harmful as in this case. Yet Ivermectin is a drug that has perhaps the safest profile of anything we have discovered. Literally billions of human doses have been administered over decades – with an astonishingly low rate of harm. The fact of these desperate parents grossly overdosing their daughter, probably by several orders of magnitude – yet remarkably she is still alive – is a powerful testament to how safe ivermectin actually is, even when absurdly abused.
And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest.
Our collective understanding of how life works, of why so many ailments and diseases occur and how best to manage them is still very much in it's early stages. There remains so much we do not know and some humility in the light of that fact would go a long way to lowering the fevered temperature of so much of these debates.
My concern is that misguided people are administering an OTC medicine to children until their children have blurred vision and keep doing so until this clears at about a 'couple of months'.
Reading down the article it seems that this is being used on children with autism. An anti worm medicine is being used on children with behavioural problems, it reminds me of exorcisms etc.
"And given how extensively Ivermectin is used as a human medicine, mis-characterising it as "horse de-wormer" or "pet medicine" is blatantly dishonest"….+1
RL, haven't you noticed (I am sure you must have) that Joe90 just regurgitates, pretty much verbatim, all Western Liberal MSM talking points, no matter how outrageous…this is merely one more slimy lump in that endless steaming rotting stream of propaganda….shit this guy would probably still defend the Trump/Russia collusion conspiracy today, given half the chance….a filthy hoax I might add, that helped in no small way, lay the ground work that has led to 100,000 dead Ukraine lives and at least as many Russian, in the Russia/US proxy war that we are all sadly, impotently watching unfold before us today.
[Your thirst for taking shots at others, be it journalists, media outlets or other commenters, has no bounds. You have been warned about this so many times and last time you were banned for one month. Yet, here we are again with you taking a shot at another commenter that shows zero respect, lacks any redeeming political comment or opinion, and is off-topic. Ban doubled to two months – Incognito]
Classy comment, on topic, about the issue.
Mod note
The need to improve medical practices is relevant to idiots harming their kids?
Red Logix
So pleased to again be reading your well written , logical and fair comments
In a sea of dim bulb comments i can only agree Francesca
The very short article you link to was woefully bereft of proper analysis.
How? It doesn't say.
In the absence of a proper report it must be assumed this is yet another conspiracy theory promoted by people suspicious of the medical profession ie, anti-vaxxers.
Ivermectin damaging children after being prescribed by their lunatic parents only happens because unqualified cranks continue to promote its benefits (to horses) online.
It's by John Hopkins, is quite serious work
Fragmented insurance networks – people without insurance, lack of early intervention …
Medical error, appears to mean a failure of the health system to operate effectively.
All good, but is it factored in that the people presenting to hospital are already at serious risk by dint of presenting to hospital?
We don't know because John Hopkins didn't say in detail how they arrived at their conclusion.
At least we don't know from the very scant of information article Redlogix based his argument on. That did not stop RL presenting it as fact in his defence of veterinary medicine, Ivermectin.
Sure, the article does not explain the modelling used.
Those presenting without insurance may not receive the best care, and there may be an influence from pharma on care offered/practice etc.
One can note atm, post pandemic lockdown and vaccination, a number of countries have higher than normal death rates. There is speculation as to the why and a range of answers are tentatively suggested.
(warning RL will respond to calling ivermectin a veterinary medicine when it has been prescribed for use to millions of humans and when used in that way has been quite safe)
It is the self prescription which is the issue, isn't it? Few medicines are happily self prescribed without heavy online encouragement.
Best leave it to trained doctors, eh.
Ha ha yes right.
Children need to be protected from some parents. Taking Ivermectin off prescription for an illness that Ivermectin cannot treat sounds like cruelty to me.
Yes of course for the correctly diagnosed problems not for the 'treatment' of autism or any other long term use that involves taking it through side effects such as blurry sight.
From Dermnetnz
https://dermnetnz.org/topics/ivermectin
While it used as an anti-parasitic, it has anti-viral properties. And because of that and its safe user profile (right dosage at least) some resorted to it out of hope (pre vaccine) and because some of the developed anti-virals do not have as safe a user profile.
This early
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41429-020-0336-z
And more recently
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9135450/
Ivermecticin is no longer an effective wormer, it has become resistive to parasitic worms, don't you think the manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank having found fools to buy their product.
Merck would rather sell its anti-viral – ivermectin is cheap to produce and low cost (often given away in the third world).
You can literally call their choice of ivermectin deworming medicine. The majority of people choosing to overdose themselves and their children are using vetinary-grade anti-parasite doses formulated for horses or for other large animals, not formulated for humans, or at human-sized doses.
'herxing'? They have no idea what that is obviously, but it's a pretty cool sounding word.
They're all batshit crazy.
Poor bloody kids
An inflammatory response to a therapy, usually an antibiotic. Not to be confused with being floxed.
In the Greens State of the Planet 2023 speech they lay down the gauntlet:
https://www.greens.org.nz/enough_slow_progress_2023_is_a_fight_for_our_future
From the speech; the starkness of the choice is made clear:
https://www.greens.org.nz/green_party_co_leader_james_shaw_s_state_of_the_planet_speech_2023
Only with more Greens in parliament can we achieve our climate targets, the dangers of delaying are unavoidable:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018882198/climate-policies-burn-on-the-bread-and-butter-bonfire
2023 really must be the climate election.
Aren’t the Greens caught in a bit of a cleft stick here?
The green wing of the part rightly decries the Govt’s slowing down of it’s climate change policies. That wing of the part that focuses on poverty and the cost of living issues must be delighted that Labour is concentrating there.
There isn't really a dichotomy between 'wings' such that you describe:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/486276/greens-lay-down-climate-change-election-challenge-to-other-parties
I am seriously f…ed off with New Zealand Cricket.
Selling the rights for home test matches to Spark Sport means that unless I want to pay for yet another streaming service, I don’t get to watch my country’s team, even when they’re playing at home.
https://hd.crichdplayer.xyz/bt-sport-2-live-streaming-hd-uk-39
Thank you!
If you publish stream details like that they will soon be blocked.
This is one area that the Aussies have got right with their anti-siphoning legislation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_laws_in_Australia
Agree Stephen….I can't even get an audio commentary online…which is sometimes superior to visual access.
Apparently it's available via the rova app. My 2 year old device is outdated so best of luck.
https://www.rova.nz/home.html
https://www.todayfm.co.nz/home/sport/2022/09/today-fm-cricket-frequencies.html
On Today fm radio.
And while we sleep this is happening across NZ.
Julian Batchelor.
He is one scary dude/demagogue
Kaipara
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/03/police-step-in-at-anti-co-governance-event-after-crowd-clashes-with-organiser.html
Orewa
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/anti-co-governance-roadshow-orewa-protesters-clash-with-attendees/VZQOUBFFUFG65CAGXGLS35BDCI/?utm_campaign=nzh_tw&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=nzh_tw#Echobox=1679183353-1
While it says the National Anthem was sung this was only the first (English) verse and most participants turned their backs on the protestors and sat back down.
Julian Batchelor is the founder of Evangelism Strategies
https://www.nzwao.com/company?utm_source=evangelism-strategies-international-limited
but far from welcoming all this
‘This organisation mobilises and motivates churches for the Great Commission’
https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-great-commission-and-why-is-it-so-controversial-111138#:~:text=Briefly%2C%20the%20Great%20Commission%20is,%E2%80%9D%20and%20%E2%80%9Cbaptize%E2%80%9D%20them.
So the Great Commission has a belief not in religious diversity but in the opposite
From The Conversation link above.
The connection of the two causes does suggest a western "civilisation" centric approach. The far north also produced John Banks, John Carter, Wayne Brown (term as Mayor ended by John Carter) and Matt King.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nationals-northland-election-candidate-announced/KXQSAKT5KVEXFG6O434RJYOKZA/
Former Kaipara Mayor, Matakohe farmer and cousin of former MP Sir Lockwood Smith KNZM, Dr Jason Smith, 51 and Felicity Foy of Te Rarawa were the two alternatives.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/felicity-foy-puts-up-hand-to-be-northlands-national-candidate/WGWLSEJT5G7XR3BWN6KXTQKL2U/
The Greens would like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull banned from New Zealand.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rainbow-greens-urge-government-to-ban-anti-transgender-activist-from-new-zealand/6SZZCW4LBRGWXBQ63PSH7QHM4Q/
https://twitter.com/amy_sargeant_/status/1636895480994201600
Another really horrible image from Melbourne. The “paedo freaks” they are wanting to exterminate are simply transgender people. 1930s Germany, anyone?
These men who appeared in masks doing the sieg hail are nothing to do with Let Women Speak.
Think about it. The gender critical movement is about women, many of whom are feminists speaking up about the rights of biological women.
I have just listened to a video by Kellie, describing what happened. These people are nothing to do with her.
Kellie is being completely smeared.
The problem is wherever KJKM goes there is militant controversy. We do not need this Nazi saluting stuff in New Zealand.
I think we need to Let Women Speak.
Speak Up for Women had their meetings about gender self ID shut down, rather than being listened to. They wanted the law about changing your sex on your birth certificate to stay as it was i.e a process through the family court. Pretty reasonable really.
They also believe that biological sex is real, not a social construct (as claimmed by the likes of Judith Butler). They want protection for women in prisons, sports, awards, refuges etc.
They are against the affirmation model for kids with gender dysphoria.
Its quite simple really. But we have been shut down smeared and vilified.
Kellie Jean pulls no punches. She states things like women don’t have penises. The Trans lobby smears people and cancels them. That is their modus operandi.
Let women speak needs to go ahead.
When a bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Antifa" decides to disrupt a group of women defending their rights to protect themselves as a sex class, and a similar bunch of testosterone laden lunkheads calling themselves "Nazis" decides to take the opportunity to have a go – the main thing they have in common is their commitment to male privilege and male aggression.
Was the other group all male and identify as Antifa?
What does that mean?
Then the argument would be that we should not give entry visas to the Nazis that were doing the saluting.
I agree Anker.
Everyone is resisting looking at how/why giving human/civil rights to one group is taking them from another.
In real words do not be in a rush to give everyone who wants to don a frock the moniker of woman.
Women need safe spaces and safe spaces do not include being in confined spaces (Toilets) or spaces with children (mothers with children in changing rooms) or receiving counselling for rape and other sexual assaults, or in women's prisons with men who have not transitioned. Men with intact genitalia should be restricted from female spaces.
Many females agree with giving rights to trans people, but these rights should not be at the expense of the rights of women.
This pure and simple is what KJKM is talking about. Smearing her is just one way of making sure that this message does not get through.
I don't think any woman who has been following this is surprised at the shock horror of there being neo nazis around.
it's true she is being smeared. It's also true that she has refused to condemn the Nazis or distance herself from them. That's a problem.
Perhaps take time to read the Greens statement. Posey Parker is anti-Muslim and has hung out with Proud Boys in the US. She doesn't just advocate a pro-women position, but also advocates virulently against trans people. Links in the Greens statement include UK feminist organisations who dissociated themselves from her because of these anti views.
I've seen a couple of nauseating clips from her podcast that immediately struck down her credibility. Be careful who you climb in bed with.
https://www.greens.org.nz/kellie_jay_keen_minshull
Just looked at the first two reasons given on that list, calling for women who identify as trans men to be "sterilised" and saying that women who oppose the cause will be “annihilated” – it is classic "force and power" language.
It reminds one of Stopes and Sanger, both womens rights on access to contraception, but also into "eugenics" to sell it to others as "population" management. That also led to them getting connections to the right.
I've not seen the evidence that the Nazis are KJK supporters. Incredibly biased reporting. The Nazis marched between LWS and the gender activists, they faced the activists and did the salute. The activists had previously been engaged with the police, apparently punching the horses bellies to try and break the line. Policy told the organisers and women speakers of LWS to be prepared to run if the lines broke. Two lots of militant men facing off.
Has anyone explained yet why the police let them go there?
KJK causes a lot of grief by not making a statement distancing herself from the Nazis. A number of women involved have objected to having to make statements because they think it's a distraction. Fortunately GC women in NZ have made statements against Nazis.
Agree with the biased reporting.
Neo Nazis, 'shock horror' will yet again put off having to deal with the points that women have been making………
I have no truck with Nazis.
The women who are concerned about the reach of the trans rights activism need to be respected. There are many of us from the mildest to the most forthright.
This is one of the songs of the 70s. I am Woman, Helen Reddy with the focus on the words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WiED7UxcRw
Can we at least talk about the reasons for the visit, the views and reflect on the point that in giving rights to one group should not mean that the rights of another should be lessened.
The Nazis focus is an unpleasant smokescreen diverting people from dealing with the real issues.
Amy Sargeant is also manipulating the narrative. What evidence is there that the Nazis were protecting KJK?
The Rainbow Greens at least. Thankfully the Greens seem to understand that now is not the time to poke at the culture wars. There's nothing on their main twitter and didn't see anything on their FB either. This time and when the original PR was done.
See link above to the official Greens statement. The Rainbow Greens are not the only signers.
yeah, that's fair, I had mistakenly read that as those three MPs being part of the RGs. My point stands. The GP twitter and FB accounts haven't shared this, it's not in their news feed, and that letter isn't easy to find on the GP front page (when I looked last week at least).
I found it a credible argument for at least serious monitoring of her in NZ, if not shutting her out. The case was well supported with examples that she is a provocateur, weka. I'm a little disappointed with the tarring of so-called tarrers, who weren't. She looks right up Counterspin’s alley.
The only credible argument I can see if her populist conservative position on trans rights alongside her refusal to condemn the Nazis in Melbourne (because she vehemently rejects guilt by association) somehow encourages Nazis in NZ to violence or hate speech. Seems a long bow to draw though.
Also, the RGs call Woman's Place UK extreme anti-trans. If they're going to use hyperbole like that it makes their whole argument suspect.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/03/co-leader-james-shaw-marama-davidson-call-for-stronger-climate-action-at-greens-state-of-the-planet-speech.html
An interesting tack, of course their room to operate after the election is limited by the lack of alternative to a Labour led government for Greens to work with.
Another bank in trouble. Why is it when financial gurus fail when gaming their own system, everyone else has to pay?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/486301/credit-suisse-bank-ubs-said-to-be-in-takeover-talks-with-troubled-rival
For example, I have put $1300 into my KiwiSaver over the last 12 months and my balance has barely shifted.
Guillotine for the thieves not far away, surely.
"For example, I have put $1300 into my KiwiSaver over the last 12 months and my balance has barely shifted."
Some have put 10s of thousands into property purchases in the last couple of years and are watching it disappear.
Because property in NZ is vastly overvalued when compared with international values.
A bank-run away from catastrophe.
https://twitter.com/davidgura/status/1635831021336657920
[…]
The good news about this issue is that banks are generally in a strong financial condition, and have not been forced to realize losses by selling depreciated securities. On the other hand, unrealized losses weaken a bank’s future ability to meet unexpected liquidity needs. That is because the securities will generate less cash when sold than was originally anticipated, and because the sale often causes a reduction of regulatory capital.
https://www.fdic.gov/news/speeches/2023/spmar0623.html
There seems to be a push to try to redeem the term 'woke' at present.
I consider it ill-advised, it having been misused to the point of losing meaning.
The Critical Drinker has some explanations about woke issues in movies.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/03/election-2023-act-greens-launch-attacks-over-ineffectiveness-reactionary-race-baiting-politics.html
This is inept, the Greens have never been in a coalition government, not in the last 5 years, or any other time.
1999-2002 Labour-Alliance (Greens c and s)
2002 2005 Labour-Progressive (United c and s)
2005-2008 Labour-Progressive (United and NZF c and s)
2017-2020 Labour-NZF (Greens c and s)
2020 Labour (co-operation agreement with Greens).
Does no one fact check speeches before they are made, ones hope their party media comms vet this sort of stuff in election year …
It's a bit one-sided
Van Veldon confuses the lack of oil and gas exploration with the current need to import coal (exploration would only have an impact on the future availability of local oil or gas – by which time there was no expectation of any need to import coal).
Note the attempt to sell the nationalism of local carbon use being better to Greens.
An easy differentation is then made